Chapter 1: First Steps

Miriamelle reluctantly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was no man was attacking her. Relaxing her body posture, Miri lowered her arms from an instinctive protective position covering her face to a resting stance. The brunette blinked, staring in wonder at the natural beauty surrounding her.

Miri slowly filtered the surrounding cacophony: first, she heard the sweet chirps of monkey's off in the distance. A songbird sung a sweet tale of lust so loud, her eardrum threatened to burst. Insects of all varieties faded in and out, alternatively swaying her attention and waning to nothing. A bullfrog croaked regularly as an old man snoring. She smelled every scent known to man, and then a good deal more. Her nose began to twitch in the sensation overload. All Miri could taste was her own blood and fear, a remnant from the trauma she had just endured.

Everywhere she looked was tropical jungle. Vibrant green foliage interwove a lovely sonnet among a background of brown tree trunks. She was too shocked to properly register the azure sky doming her environment. Cerulean leaves of all shapes and sizes, from minuscule ivy to flowers the size of her body. She was standing on a miniature forest consisting solely of brave grass that had fought for patches of natural sunlight. Suddenly, she felt a pair of thinking eyes stare at her. On instinct, Miri spun toward the direction she felt the gaze and saw a miracle.

She immediately recognized it as a unicorn: a pure white horse, blue eyes, with a golden-white horn adorning his temple. Miriamelle gulped and made a sound halfway between greeting and eeking. The unicorn met Miriamelle’s eyes, and she felt a sudden vigor take hold of her, as if the world wasn’t such a cold, hard, painful place. Though their eyes met seemingly for a heartbeat, Miriamelle felt herself laid bare in front of the majestic beast. Miriamelle hung her head down, shame written clear on her face, although she did not know or understand why. Suddenly, the unicorn broke eye contact with her and nodded at her. She felt a foreign male presence touch her mind and heard it impart a message.

“Do not fear mortal traveler. I have judged you neither Good nor Evil. Neither chaotic or lawful. For that, I can aid you no aid, neither destruction. I am permitted only to gift you a snippet of advice. Lust can be used to break someone down or empower them. The choice is all that matters, as such, never allow choice to be dictated. Fare Thee Well.”

Closing her gaping mouth, Miriamelle looked down, finding herself still exposed. Blushing, she fixed her clothing. Once done, Miriamelle looked around frantically, “I don’t know how I got here, but there must be some way I got here. I have to find Anders!”

Miri turned around, groping every possible molecule within reach. Failing to find any hint of her portal, she started walking in a circle, touching everything she could that could have placed her here in this foreign paradise. Stopping, panic slowly etched on her face, she wiped her brow. Sweat flung off her hand and Miri blinked in surprise. She became aware of the humid heat of this place, and she quickly took off her jacket. Throwing it on the ground with a cry, Miriamelle sat down.

She hugged her legs, leaning forward to hide her hair. Beneath a waterfall of hair, she cried. Deep and full-bodied, she shook. Miriamelle grieved for her trauma. She felt lonely and lost; terrified even. Though she had only briefly felt the unicorn’s judgment, she felt hurt by its condemnation. Most of all, At that moment, she mourned for brave Anders, fool that he was. In time, she sobbed herself to sleep, body and mind struggling to comprehend Miriamelle’s new reality.